During the Civil War, several Confederate military camps were located in the Palatka area, including a number in the vicinity of present-day Ravine Gardens State Park. However, after Union gunboats gained control of the St. Johns River in 1862, most residents of Palatka abandoned the city and resettled in nearby Orange Springs and Florahome.

Throughout 1862, while raiding plantations along the St. Johns River, Union gunboats periodically landed at Palatka, which they found mostly deserted. However, in March 1863, an attempted landing at Palatka by Union soldiers from two regiments of U.S. Colored Troops was repulsed by the 2nd Florida Cavalry under the command of Captain J.J. Dickison.

Dickison reported that the Union force had suffered 20 to 30 casualties of dead and wounded while the Confederates suffered one man wounded. In March 1864, a strong Union force commanded by Colonel William Barton occupied Palatka where they moved into deserted buildings and erected earthworks surrounding the town.

Several skirmishes were fought between Union pickets and Confederate forces around Palatka until April 1864 when the Federal force evacuated the city. In July 1864, Palatka was again occupied by a strong Union force which skirmished with Confederate troops until August 1864, when the Federal troops abandoned Palatka for the duration of the war.

In 1924, a Confederate monument was erected in Palatka by the United Daughters of the Confederacy on the Putnam County Courthouse lawn.

Information Provided by the Florida Department of State.